Zoomf Blog - UK Property Blog.

Listing photos are important, I’d hope we all understand that by now, but virtual tours are seriously where it’s at if you want your listing to stand out from the others.

The showing of a house is one of the most important parts of the marketing process. Naturally, if you can give a prospective buyer a walk around the property without them ever leaving the comfort of their computer screen then you’re going to be at an obvious advantage.

I’m not implying that a virtual tour could ever replace a real viewing, but it could be that icing on the cake that secures a viewing in the first place. By the time a prospective buyer even calls you up, they’ve already had a 360 degree view of every room and have decided where the TV will go. And clients who have mentally moved in are the kinda people you want to be dealing with.

So, you’re convinced. You want to be one step ahead of the other agents in your locality and be pimping properties with stellar virtual tours. How do you go about it?

Luckily for you, Zoomf has partnered with smokin’ hot digital-imaging company iLOOKABOUT to offer cutting edge virtual tour photography. iLOOKABOUT uses the most up-to-the-minute technology to capture images in the most authentic and accurate way possible, seriously we have been very impressed by what these guys can do.

For more information on how iLOOKABOUT spruce up your listings, email us at info@zoomf.com and we’ll get you started

According to the FT, rents in some parts of London have gone down by as much as 20%. Why? Because of all the excess stock that isn’t being matched by an increase in the number of people looking to rent. ‘Reluctant landlords’ take on a big part of the blame, but they don’t exactly want to be renting out their property either. More here.

There was an interesting piece in The Observer yesterday, where Oscar-winning John Battsek talks about his beyond unsatisfactory dealings with a certain mini-driving letting agent. Forget the fact that he missed out on a rental income to the tune of a few thousand pounds, his gripe is that he feels he was completely hustled by supposed ‘experts’.

John had never let out a property before and having been talked the talk by the local agent, and having received a healthy (realistically overinflated) rental valuation, he saw no reason not to list with Agent X. Although he was assured the market was as strong as ever, his property lay tenantless, managers wouldn’t answer his calls and viewings were scarce. I won’t name names when it comes to which agents did what, you’ll have to click through to the article for the juicy details, but you can probably make a fairly educated guess as to which agent was excited to get him on the books and then failed to ever deliver a tenant.

If you’re thinking of letting out a property, how can you avoid falling into the hands of misleading agents?

Well, a good place to start would be the fantastic list of questions that Which? have compiled. They recommend you visit at least three agents and understand all their fees and charges before you committ to anything and if they can’t answer all your questions satisfactorily, don’t list with them. Not everyone’s out to hustle you, you will find a decent letting agent if you do your homework.

What to ask:

· How many similar properties do you have to let?

· How many are not being let now?

· How long does it usually take from advertising to getting a tenant?

· Is anyone currently looking for my sort of property?

· What qualifications do your staff have in letting?

· Are you in a trade association? If not, why not?

· How are disputes between owners and agents settled?

· What happens about repairs in the home?

· If the agency handles repairs, am I charged cost price, or with a mark-up?

It’s not the easiest of times for estate agents, and it’s even worse over in the States. So what’s a struggling real estate agent to do to supplement his income?

Josh Flagg thought he had the answer, he started stealing paintings from his high-end listings. And we’re not talking nice paintings bought from the local gallery, we’re talking Picassos and Chagalls. The 25 year old Beverly Hills agent has been busted and is currently on bail awaiting charges. Which is lucky for him, as Bravo’s upcoming season of Million Dollar Listing is about to air…and he’s the star of the show.

Kinda good looking for a common thief…just sayin’